This film is not extraordinary in any way. With that said, I still believe it's worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of the Ju On series. While I understand that some might be a little disappointed that the surrounding lore of the series isn't very present at all in this film,I found it as something of a plus. As someone who has no history with this film series, coming into this one blind, I was afraid that this film would be heavily reliant on the surrounding lore of its universe. So I was happy to see that everything was easy to understand. While, of course, I would never, in good faith, recommend someone make their first foray into a film series by starting in the middle (save for the Star Wars series) I don't think this is necessarily a bad film to help introduce someone to this series.
This film isn't the scariest I've ever seen. There were only a couple moments which I thought were unsettling, but I can't match the sentiment of some other who have said that this is sillier than it is scary since I don't think there is much silliness in this film at all, but your mileage may vary. Humor and horror is all subjective so keep that in mind.
The performances are pretty good, especially the performance for Fukie. There is only one moment towards the end where I felt things got a little campy but for the vast majority of the film the acting if fine.
The film's run time is very short, and for western audiences it might feel too short as it is not even an hour long. But the film is surprisingly well-paced and the use of the short amount of time it takes up is surprisingly great. It does what it needs to do, there's hardly any filler, and it feels substantial-everything you're shown is important in some way.
The biggest issue with this film is that it simply doesn't leave too much of an impression. It's fun while watching it but you're not going to be thinking much of it shortly afterwards, and I think that's the biggest fault in this film. It exists, I think, mainly to give more Ju On content regardless of how little of it it might have to offer. I think that's why this film has such a middling reputation and I can't help but match the sentiment of that critique. It's not badly made, it's not offensive, it's not even bad, it's just a semi-forgettable romp that's only really engaging in the moment you're experiencing it.
This film isn't the scariest I've ever seen. There were only a couple moments which I thought were unsettling, but I can't match the sentiment of some other who have said that this is sillier than it is scary since I don't think there is much silliness in this film at all, but your mileage may vary. Humor and horror is all subjective so keep that in mind.
The performances are pretty good, especially the performance for Fukie. There is only one moment towards the end where I felt things got a little campy but for the vast majority of the film the acting if fine.
The film's run time is very short, and for western audiences it might feel too short as it is not even an hour long. But the film is surprisingly well-paced and the use of the short amount of time it takes up is surprisingly great. It does what it needs to do, there's hardly any filler, and it feels substantial-everything you're shown is important in some way.
The biggest issue with this film is that it simply doesn't leave too much of an impression. It's fun while watching it but you're not going to be thinking much of it shortly afterwards, and I think that's the biggest fault in this film. It exists, I think, mainly to give more Ju On content regardless of how little of it it might have to offer. I think that's why this film has such a middling reputation and I can't help but match the sentiment of that critique. It's not badly made, it's not offensive, it's not even bad, it's just a semi-forgettable romp that's only really engaging in the moment you're experiencing it.